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HON. JOHN F. FITZGERALD 
Mayor of Boston. 






BRIGHTON DAY 



CELEBRATION OF THE 



One Hundredth Anniversary 



INCORPORATION 



TOWN OF BRIGHTON 



August 3, 1907 




BOSTON 

MUNICIPAL PRINTING OFFICE 

1908 



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CITY OF BOSTON. 



In Board of Aldermen, November 25, 1907. 

Ordered, That the Clerk of Committees, under the direction of 
the Committee on Printing, be authorized to prepare and pub- 
lish an edition of fifteen hundred copies of a memorial volume 
containing an account of the exercises at the celebration of the 
Centennial Anniversary of the incorporation of Brighton; the 
expense of the same to be charged to the appropriation for City 
Council, Incidental Expenses. 

Passed. Sent down for concurrence. 
December 12, came up concurred. 
Approved by the Mayor, December 24, 1907. 
A true copy. 

Attest : 

JOHN T. PRIEST, 

Assistant City Clerk. 



CELEBRATION OF BRIGHTON DAY 



The celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the 
incorporation of the Town of Brighton was held on Satur- 
day, August 3, during Boston's first Old Home Week. The 
anniversary itself occurred February 24th, but by general 
consent the celebration was deferred to a date when the 
weather would be more propitious. 

The exercises were in charge of a committee consisting 
of Alderman William H. Woods and Councilmen William E. 
Cose, George C. McCabe and Axel E. Zetterman, all of whom 
represented the Brighton district in the Boston City Gov- 
ernment. 

The celebration was opened with the lighting by Mayor 
Fitzgerald of a bonfire at one minute past midnight, at 
" Dummy Field," Everett street, and the firing of a 
salute of one hundred guns on the North Brighton Play- 
ground by a detail from the Watertown Arsenal. 

Besides athletic games and sports in the various play- 
grounds and parks in the district, the committee arranged 
for a parade in the afternoon and band concerts and fire- 
works display in the evening. 

The parade started at 1.30 P.M. at Cambridge street, 
opposite the Brighton High School, and passed through 
the principal streets of the district. 

The roster of the parade was as follows: 

Platoon of Mounted Police. 

Mission Church Band. 

Spanish War Veterans. 

Chief Marshal, Lieutenant-Colonel Perlie A. Dyar. 

Chief of Staff, Allan Clark. 



6 CELEBRATION OF 

Assistant Adjutant General, William L. Fox. 
Quartermaster, George W. Frost. 
Commissary, Clarence W. Sanderson. 
General, E. S. Dow. 
Assistant Surgeon, George McKee. 
Assistant Engineer, Herbert E. Prescott. 
Assistant Commisary, Edward C. Webster. 
Assistant Quartermaster, George G. Parson. 
Aids — A. G. Dyar, A. C. Ringer, J. W. Warren, Edward M. 
Richardson, W. R. Ring, F. E. Barlow, J. F. Ryan, W. E. 
Goes, George C. McCabe, Julius B. Dreyfus, F. W. Dob- 
bratz, A. P. Collier, C. E. Burleigh, Gordon A. Cummings, 
Thomas F. J. Callahan, Edward F. Coolidge, Rudolph 
Burroughs, H. E. Buckland, James M. Boyle, Thomas J. 
Young, John J. Burke, John Quincy Adams, Jr., Joseph L. 
Curran, Albert E. Harding, Karl Kilburn, Harris T. 
Louden, William H. Murphy, Jr., Fred A. Norcross, 
Charles E. Pyke, George A. Pratt, Richard Ray, Jr., 
Arthur C. Greenwood, Herbert A. Wilson, John J. Wighton, 
Alexander E. Zetterman, Wendell N. Harding, Michael 
Fonseca, George W. Roberts, J. A. Jansen, George W. 
Yeaton, and Leon L. Marie. 

First Division. 

Marshal, Will S. Fuller. 

Band. 

Sons of Veterans Camp 89. 

Francis Washburn Post, Camp 92, in Carriages. 

Francis Washburn Post, Woman's Relief Corps 79, Float and 

Barge. 

Ladies' Auxiliary to Sons of Veterans 9, in Wagonette. 

Ninth Regiment Veterans, M. V. M. 

Letter Carriers' Association. 

Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 

Daughters of Rebekah 29, Float and Barge. 

Division 21, Ancient Order of Hibernians, Float. 

Ladies' Auxiliary 6, Ancient Order of Hibernians, Float and 

Barges. 

Second Division. 

Marshal, Francis M. McCarthy. 

Band. 

New England Order of Protection. 



BRIGHTON DAY. 7 

New England Order of Protection 289, Float. 

Improved Order of Red Men. 

Lincoln Associates. 

Riverdale Associates. 

Knights of Columbus, Brighton Council, Float. 

Knights of Columbus, Allston Council, Float. 

Knights of Pythias. 

Eastern Star, Evangeline Chapter, Float. 

Women's Christian Temperance Union, Float and Barge. 

Allston Conclave, Heptasophs. 

Irish National Foresters, Lady O'Byrne Branch, Float. 

Irish National Foresters, Lady O'Byrne Branch, two Barges. 

St. Genevieve Court, Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters, 

Float. 

St. Genevieve Court, Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters, 

two Barges. 

Faneuil Improvement Association, Float. 

Hospital Department. 

Ambulances, Emergency Wagons, etc. 

Third Division. 

Marshal, District Chief John F. Ryan. 

Band. 

Brighton Day Celebration Committees, in Carriages. 

City Government, in Carriages. 

Fire Department. 

Paving Department. 

Street Cleaning Department. 

Street Watering Department. 

Sewer Department. 

Trades Division. 

Representing the Various Business Interests of the District. 

Detail of Mounted Police. 

LITERARY AND HISTORICAL EXERCISES. 

The principal event of the day, the literary and historical 
exercises, took place at Wilson Park, in the open air, at 
11 o'clock in the morning. The proceedings began by the 
school children forming a "living flag" and singing the 
"Star Spangled Banner." 



8 CELEBRATION OF 

The chairman, Mr. John L. B. Pratt, then presented to 
the audience Mrs. N. C. Wellington, 92 years of age, and a 
native of Brighton, who was greeted with three cheers. 

After a selection by the Beethoven Quartette, "Away, 
Away," prayer was offered by the Rev. H. A. Stevens, for- 
merly pastor of the First Congregational Church of Brighton. 

The chairman then introduced, in the following words, 
Mr. J. P. C. Winship, whose address, somewhat amplified, 
will he found at the end of the volume under the title of 
"Historical Address." 

The Chairman. — We assemble to-day, the last day of 
the Old Home Week, not only to welcome with glad hearts 
those who return to their homes, but also to celebrate the 
one hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Town of 
Brighton. It is simply my duty to preside. We are honored 
to-day with eloquent gentlemen who will speak to you of 
Brighton in its palmy days, one a native of the town, a resi- 
dent for more than three-fourths of a century, familiar with 
its early history, our historian, holding prominent positions 
in our town, a member of the school board for many years, 
in which position he won the confidence and love of both 
teachers and pupils, one whom we all love, our grand old 
man, whom the entire community in his declining years 
delights to honor — our historian and our orator, J. P. C. 
Winship. (Applause.) 

"The Old Oaken Bucket," arranged, was then given by 
the Beethoven Quartette. 

The Chairman. — Although not a native of the town, our 
next speaker has been a resident for many years, and intends 
to make this his permanent home. Maj. William S. Young- 
man, a graduate of Harvard and a member of the Suffolk 
bar, will now address us. (Applause.) 



BRIGHTON DAY. 



ADDRESS 

By William S. Youngman, Esq. 



Mr. Chairman, Friends and Neighbors of Brighton : No one 
can fail to appreciate the loyalty of your people to our home 
of Brighton when you forsake all the marching hosts of the 
Commonwealth of Massachusetts on the beloved streets of 
the city to come here and attend these exercises, to hear the 
beautiful singing of these children of the Brighton public- 
schools who have studied and practised so faithfully to pro- 
duce such excellent results. 

I had expected, on this great historical occasion, that the 
history would be served to you in a larger amount from the 
lips of the historian and the distinguished genealogist of 
Brighton's old families, Mr. Winship; therefore I am not 
prepared to give you perhaps as large a dose of its history 
as you would like. I can only deal with some of the later 
days, and I shall endeavor in this heat not to tire you with 
statistics or things that are too dry, because you will prob- 
ably be dry enough before I get through. 

I am fixed in this program as a sort of nebula in the galaxy 
of stars, of orators, historians and statesmen — somebody to 
produce a little glow between the star of history and the comet 
Coyle who represents you in the Legislature. (Laughter.) 
The comet will come later, and give you a better "tale" of 
Brighton than I could give. 

You heard this morning the booming of the guns from the 
arsenal, you heard the note of the steam whistles, and you 
heard the old Brighton bull — the only bull in Brighton that 
never feared the abattoir. (Laughter.) This is Brighton's 



10 CELEBRATION OF 

day, and you have opened your homes, opened your hearts, 
and Brighton and her children are celebrating. Jubilee has 
come in and we are looking to the future. 

Though we call it Brighton it is now Ward 25 of the 
great metropolis of New England. And for Brighton this is 
indeed (as Sam Adams said in response to Paul Revere) 
"a glorious day." It is also a glorious day for the 
Commonwealth, because, while Ward 25 is not the largest 
in the City of Boston, it is one that is going to have 
the most brilliant future. All the separate parts — Allston, 
Faneuil, Brighton proper, Aberdeen — seem to be centres, 
seem to divide it up, but you know how they are growing 
together; you know that it is only going to be a very short 
time till homes will join Boston and Brighton, till business 
blocks will connect the old Boston line and Brookline 
with Newton. 

Brighton has a great future. It isn't merely the past. 
She had a beautiful past, and that past must not be forgotten. 
As I said, I do not mean to tire you with statistics, but I 
want to say a word of men — and that means of women, 
too, for without the women, without the aid of the wives 
and the sisters, what would happen to the communities? I 
will have a word for them later on, but now I want to 
mention a few of the older men of Brighton, men who are 
gone, who have crossed the great divide, "to that bourne," 
as Shakespeare says, "whence no traveller e'er returns." 
They must not be forgotten to-day — the men like the 
Warrens and Dana and Baldwin and Hollis, and many 
others too numerous to mention, whose names are household 
words. They helped to build Brighton, and they helped to 
make Ward 25 what it is and what it is going to be. 

I ought to mention a lot of other names, but Representa- 
tive Coyle is going to do justice to them. To show that this 



BRIGHTON DAY. 11 

is no narrow view that we take of Brighton and its celebra- 
tion, I want to call to mind the names of Patrick Colby, of 
Patrick Moley, of Michael Cronin, who were members of the 
old town selectmen, and town treasurer and other officials 
who did their noble work. 

Then for the future. You have seen what this celebration 
is, you have seen how Brighton people can be brought together, 
and though the modesty of these gentlemen who have served 
on these committees forbids me to call them by name, you 
know how well the federal service is represented, the active 
men in the city government, the leading bankers and busi- 
ness men, and above all, and foremost, the women of Brighton 
on the Ladies' Auxiliary. Brighton has had much to be 
proud of, but the future lias still more in store for it, It 
has beauties extending from the park by the reservoir to the 
Charles river, but it is going to have greater, far greater, 
beauties in the future. Within a year the great bosom of 
the Charles, that is famed in the stories and in the poems of 
Lowell and Longfellow, will be permanently raised by the 
great dam at Craigie bridge, and there the pleasure-seekers 
from all over the great metropolitan district will come by 
thousands to seek the shore of Brighton. 

You have more than that; you have the societies that 
make the social life and the improvement of Brighton promis- 
ing, vastly promising, for the future. As I have said before, 
the Catholic societies and the Celtic societies are going to be 
splendidly taken care of in the flaming eloquence of your 
representative in the Great and General Court, Therefore 
it is not because I do not appreciate them and would not do 
them justice, if I could, that I do not mention them, though 
I do not concede that it is in my power to do them such ample 
justice as Mr. Coyle. You have those societies, and they 
will be thoroughly dealt with. But there are other clubs. 



12 CELEBRATION OF 

Think of the Brighthelmstono ! Where in any other suburb 
of Boston will you find its equal for enterprise and interest 
in every good work ? Think of the Brighton Rebekahs, the 
Daughters of the American Revolution — daughters every- 
where, and active and bringing up good sons ! 

Then there are the improvement societies. The Faneuil 
Improvement Society — I wish I could name every one of 
its members — it has been an honor to its district, and it has 
certainly made its influence count in all sections. There is 
the Neighborhood Club down near the Boston line — because 
somehow or other I still think that we have a line between 
us and Boston — a trolley line, anyway. (Laughter.) 

Besides you have, and I ought to have named it first — 
because though a veteran of the Spanish War, I always yield 
the palm to the veteran of the Civil War — you have the 
Francis Washburn Post of the Grand Army of the Republic. 
You know what its work is, you know its men, and our only 
sorrow in mentioning that Post is the thought of its diminish- 
ing numbers. Let us think, however, that the hoary heads 
of these veterans are indeed " a crown of glory." Let 
us honor them, every one of them, no matter what may 
be their rank in the service. They are members of the Grand 
Army now, and let us care for them and make them happy, 
as happy as we can, to their last days. 

There is another thought that I would like to add to this 
occasion, a thought for the veterans of the Spanish War. 
They cannot boast of many battles, but there were many, 
many thousands of them. Brighton was well represented 
in every arm of the service, in the navy by her seamen and 
officers, in the artillery, in the cavalry — which I had the 
honor to belong to — and in the infantry. There were hun- 
dreds of Brighton boys, born or resident here. The veterans 
of the Spanish War, I have said, cannot boast of battles, but 



BRIGHTON DAY. 13 

they were willing; they responded like a flash to the call 
for volunteers, they went to the camps, they endured 
the discipline, and the hardest thing for the American 
soldier to do is to wait. The American soldier is a wonder 
when he is in action, but it is an awfully hard proposition for 
him to wait six or eight months in camp, simply marching 
up and down, with all of the drudgery and none of 
the excitement of war. I believe that the veterans of the 
Spanish War deserve an honor that is far beyond the 
measurement of the battles that they participated in, because 
scarcely one of them remained in the camps but would have 
been willing to go to the front. All who served know (I hap- 
pened to be lucky enough to get to the front) that a man 
would almost have given his right arm to be lucky enough 
to go. We have the veterans of the Ninth regiment; they 
are bearing a good part in Brighton as well as in other com- 
munities of the City of Boston. 

I want to say one more thing about an institution of 
Brighton, a very beautiful institution which Brighton people 
can claim as their own, though it is partly attached to Har- 
vard University, which many Brighton men call their Alma 
Mater — the Soldiers' Field. Every year, spring and fall, 
we wend our way to the Soldiers' Field, and a beautiful field 
it is, and a field that was founded in a beautiful sentiment. 
It was founded to commemorate the kinsmen, the friends and 
the schoolmates of a man who fought in the Civil War — a 
man who fought and bears an honorable scar of an honorable 
wound received with his face to the foe. There, near North 
Harvard street, which is generally known to the Cambridge 
people (Cambridge being the mother city of Brighton) as 
the road to Brighton, there near that street is a little tablet ; 
just a small slab of stone, but on it is a most beautiful 
sentiment, which we will all do well to take with us to-day: 



14 CELEBRATION OF 

Though love repine, and reason chafe, 
There came a voice without reply, — 
" 'Tis man's perdition to be safe 

When for the truth he ought to die." 

Fellow-citizens of Brighton, wars are over, and we have 
none in sight, I thank God! but we have our civil liberty to 
build and to preserve. 

My last word will be on that subject. Here in Brighton 
the future is going to depend a lot on tolerance, on 
friendliness, on generosity to other people, whether they 
belong to your creed or your race or not. It does not 
make any difference whether you are numerically in the 
majority or the minority, be generous, be fair, pull together, 
and if we all pull together for Brighton, Aberdeen, Allston, 
Faneuil and all the rest, this Ward 25 will be what I predicted 
it would be — the most famous ward of Boston. We have 
had one Congressman, and we ought to have another; we 
have had one President of the Senate, and we ought to have 
another, and a Speaker of the House, too. So let us pull 
together; let us take the grand sentiment that was uttered 
by Abraham Lincoln in the closing of his second inaugural, 
when surely bitterness was at its height between the North 
and the South, because each side had sacrificed so many men. 
Lincoln said, and we cannot find any better pattern, "With 
malice toward none, with charity for all, let us strive on in 
the right as God gives us to see the right, to finish the work 
we are in." 

Our work is to upbuild Brighton, to upbuild Boston, to 
make our homos attractive and to make them pleasant to 
all our neighbors. Therefore I say: Fling open your doors, 
open your homes, open your hearts; let tolerance and jubilee 
and pride of Brighton come in to remain for another one 
hundred years. (Applause.) 




WILLIAM S. YOUNGMAN 






JOHN N. 


COLE 


Speaker. 


PERLIE A. 
Chief Ma 


DYAR 
shal. 


Speak 


er. 



BRIGHTON DAY. 15 

The children then sang "Good-bye, my Bluebell." 

The Chairman. — I now have the pleasure to introduce to 
you a native of the town, a product of our public schools, a 
member of the State Legislature, whose eloquent voice has oft 
been heard in that body, Brighton's favorite son, M. J. Coyle. 
(Applause.) 



16 CELEBRATION OF 



ADDRESS 

By Representative M. J. Coyle 



Mr. Chairman, Worthy Historian, Invited Guests, Ladies and 
Gentlemen: This is indeed a proud moment for the people of 
Brighton. To-day we celebrate the one hundredth anniver- 
sary of the settlement of Brighton. 

It is not my purpose nor my privilege at this time to delve 
deep into the history of the earlier portion of this town, but 
as the previous speaker informed you that an agreement had 
been reached among the speakers to divide the history of this 
ward into three parts, I would fail in the performance of my 
part of the contract if I transgressed upon the portions which 
have already been covered. I do not intend to take away 
from anything that has been said, any honor that has been 
accorded to those who were justly entitled to such honor, but 
perhaps by way of introduction let us recall the names of some 
of the earlier settlers of Brighton whose descendants to-day 
are still living here in this good old town. Among the earlier 
settlers of Brighton could be found the names of Leonard 
Worcester, of Gardner, of Hollis, of Wingate, of Sparhawk, of 
Jordan, and many others that I could enumerate. 

Coming down to a period of seventy-five years ago, we 
come then to a race of people that have distinguished them- 
selves as well in proportion to their population as the early 
settlers and their descendants. It is not my purpose, and 
I would indeed be false to all the traditions of manhood if I 
attempted it, to take issue and to make any unfavorable 
criticism or comparison between any religious denomina- 



BRIGHTON DAY. 17 

tions that now worship God as they see fit under the laws of 
this free country, but seventy-five years ago a down-trodden, 
oppressed race of people were compelled, like the early 
colonial settlers, to leave England and her domains because 
of tyranny, unjust taxation and oppression, and were forced 
to flee to this free land of ours that they might enjoy the 
privileges that are afforded to them under the constitution. 
Because of that fact I desire to recall to you some of the 
names of the early Irish settlers. Among them we find the 
names of Michael Corcoran, Hugh Fagan, Thomas Brennan, 
James McNamara, Michael Norton, who for many years was 
the town clerk of this town, and who served the town faith- 
fully and well, a brilliant lawyer who afterwards became an 
assistant to the district attorney of Suffolk County; Patrick 
Moley, who for many years resided here in the second house 
from where I now stand; John Heady, who was the first 
sexton of the first Catholic church, and John Nolan, one of 
the early settlers in what is known as the North Brighton 
section of this ward. 

So much for that. The history of the ward proves that 
they conducted themselves as good, loyal, God-fearing citi- 
zens, and in conjunction with the early so-called Americans 
of different religious beliefs became part and parcel of this 
great town, added to its history, and demonstrated by their 
example, by their modesty, by their virtue, by their loyalty 
to the Stars and Stripes, by their loyalty to Almighty God, 
that they believed fully in the principles enunciated in the 
independence of America, and they did not transgress any 
of the conditions which the laws imposed upon them when 
they forsook allegiance to the Queen of England. 

Now, people of Brighton, there arc many interesting 
historical incidents that I might enumerate. We have here 
to-day represented in this ward a population at the last census 



18 CELEBRATION OF 

of about 22,000 people, composed of all nationalities, Greeks, 
Italians, Polanders, Americans, descendants of the Irish, 
Swedes, Russians, Finlanders; and the best proof of the old 
saying that this country is open and welcome to the people 
of other nations so long as they live up to the laws of this 
country is demonstrated here in this small town by seeing 
all these people living together harmoniously and worshipping 
their God as they see fit. 

One word in reference to our aged orator, who, because of 
his declining years, could not deliver to you, so that you 
could understand it, the address which I am sure will be 
prized when he has been called to meet the great Creator of 
all, and will be treasured by our children and by posterity. 
He has added much to this occasion by his presence, and 
the history of this ward or of the town of Brighton written 
by him is as accurate a history as could be written by any 
historian of national reputation. 

Now, my good people, for one moment let us stop and con- 
sider the conditions that confront us to-day and the condi- 
tions that confronted the people of one hundred years ago. 
To-day we dedicate in the afternoon two tablets to the 
memory of one of the Revolutionary soldiers who took a 
prominent part in the early battles of the American Revo- 
lution — Col. Thomas Gardner, in whose honor a school 
has been named and in whose further honor these tablets 
will be dedicated to-day. A soldier of the American Revo- 
lution, a colonel in the Continental Army, who, at the battle 
of Bunker Hill, when he was being carried bleeding and 
dying as a result of the engagement against the English 
troops, meeting his son, who was then a private in the army, 
the boy, with that instinct which is predominant in the 
breast of every human being when within it beats a fond 
heart, with the loyalty of affection, when he saw his father 




WILLIAM H. WOODS 
Chairman City Council Commi 



BRIGHTON DAY. 19 

carried away dying, dirty, bleeding, rushed to his side; his 
father said, "My boy, be true to your God, fight to-day 
for God, for country and for home, never mind me!" And 
the dying man was carried through Cambridge, across what 
is known as Willard's bridge, back to his old home on 
Western avenue, where a tablet will be dedicated. Some 
time after, the immortal Washington, the father of his 
country, who came here to take command of the American 
troops, learning of the condition of Colonel Gardner, paid a 
visit to his home, and clasping him by the hand said to 
him, "Colonel, you are going to get well; but if you should 
die, remember future ages will see to it that the memory 
of the men who shed their blood for American Independ- 
ence will be truly and properly observed." 

When the great war, the greatest war known to-day in 
the history of any country, a war which divided father 
against son, brother against brother, daughters against 
fathers — when the great Civil War broke out in this land, 
when the call for troops was issued by the second great star 
in the history of American government, when Lincoln issued 
his call for troops, Brighton's men of all nationalities 
responded. Many years have passed, and yet the memory 
of that struggle is still fresh in our minds, in the minds of 
those who were living at the time and were old enough to 
have a thorough knowledge and appreciation of the import- 
ance of the great battles or to have to do with them. You 
will see some of them this afternoon, not marching to the 
tuneful music of an inspiring band, but rather, because of 
their declining years, because of the tremendous heat of this 
August day, riding in landaus at the head of the first pro- 
cession of a patriotic and historical character that has ever 
taken place in this town. (Applause.) 

Later on, when the Spanish War broke out, it seemed at 



20 CELEBRATION OF 

one time as if we were going to meet the same firm opposi- 
tion that we encountered in the Civil War; a call for troops 
was issued again, and, true to the history of Brighton, the 
sons of those grand old soldiers and the sons of all nationali- 
ties responded to defend the Stars and Stripes. They are 
remembered to-day in participating in these exercises. And 
all the other organizations — the Woman's Relief Corps, the 
Ladies' Auxiliary, the Daughters of Rebekah, the Catholic 
Order of Foresters, the Irish National Foresters, the Ancient 
Order of Hibernians, and many other organizations that I 
might enumerate. 

Now, what is the condition of Brighton to-day? Wliat 
great men has Brighton produced in the last forty years? 
At this time, in this place, I believe, Mr. Chairman, I should 
be derelict in the performance of my duty if I did not recall 
for you to consider the name of one man who has done more 
for Ward 25 than any other single individual. A man never 
having received a collegiate education, but possessing natural 
talents, became the leader of the people of this ward by his 
persuasive power, by his convincing argument, by his tact, 
diplomacy and other great attributes or gifts that he pos- 
sessed; the name of John H. Lee (applause) should receive 
to-day a just consideration. 

Many men in many walks in life have fought hard to secure 
an education that they might become an honor and a credit 
to the community. Your present legal representative. 
Charles I). B. Fisk, a tireless worker, is entitled to just con- 
sideration for his efforts in behalf of the people of Brighton. 
Then there is your worthy chairman, John L. B. Pratt; when 
I was a boy going to the high school, I went to the hall one 
night and I heard him deliver the finest argument from a 
Republican standpoint that I ever heard in my life. (Laugh- 
ter and applause.) Of course I agreed with him then, because 



BRIGHTON DAY. 21 

of my ignorance (laughter); but since I have become 
acquainted with the ways that arc dark and mysterious, 
methods that are resorted to to attain prominence, 

politically speaking, I can see now that he was right for 
himself, but wrong for me. (Laughter.) 

I am reminded at this time of a little story I heard, and 
of course stories liven up an occasion of this kind. Two 
Irishmen standing on the streets in New York, both having 
left Ireland five years previous, met casually. One said to 
the other, "Pat, how are j'ou getting along?" Pat said, 
"Fine. Why shouldn't I get along well? My father was a 
smart man in Ireland." "Why," said Mike, "'what was 
your father's business?" "Well," said he, "he was a con- 
tractor, and," he said, "he had a great big farm, and one 
day a regiment of 60,000 English soldiers were marching by 
his farm. A tremendous rainstorm came up, and my father 
called them all in on the farm, and he turned back one leaf 
of a head of cabbage he had growing there, and it served as 
protection from the rain for the 00,000 soldiers! " (Laughter.) 
"Well," said Mike, "your father was indeed a smart man, 
but I suppose my father was the smartest man that Ireland 
ever produced." "Why," said Pat, "what was your father's 
business?" "Well," said Mike, "my father was a con- 
tractor, too, and he started building an article, and he had 
645,000 men working steady for three years; he had 35,000 
paymasters, and they started to pay the men off the first 
day of the month, and by the time they had the last man 
paid it was time to begin and pay them all over again." 
(Laughter.) "Well," said Pat, "in the name of God, what 
sort of an article was your father building?" "Well," 
said Mike, "he was building a kettle to boil that head of 
cabbage that grew on your father's farm!" (Laughter.) 

So it is to-day, the Irishmen, the Germans, the French, 



22 CELEBRATION OF 

the Russians, the Polanders, the Finns, the Swedes and 
the Americans are all boiling the head of cabbage that grew 
years ago, one hundred years ago, when we set apart from 
the City of Cambridge. And we are going to have the greatest 
boiling process to-day that you ever saw since Brighton was 
Brighton. 

Now, my friends, my time is about used up. I have only 
been telling this story simply to keep you in good humor 
and to keep your attention riveted here. 

I want to say this in closing, that Brighton is bound within 
the next twenty-five years to become one of the most thickly 
settled sections of our city. We are bound to have brilliant 
representatives in all walks of life; an abundance of schools, 
libraries, fire and police protection, churches, ministers, 
priests, divines, who will see to it that the youth arc properly 
educated, that they may be fitted to perform life's noble 
work. 

Just one word more, so that I may not be charged with 
not having performed my duty. The first parish priest, 
Catholic priest, of Brighton, was a gentleman named Father 
Finotti. Previous to his advent here, the Catholic people 
of Brighton would attend mass at Father O'Byrne's church 
in Brookline. When Father Finotti came to Brighton, 
the good Catholic people of Brighton had no splendid edifice 
where they could worship Almighty God, and they wor- 
shipped Him in the houses and the barns of friendly people. 
After Father Finotti's decease, Father Rogers, who built 
the St. Columbkille Church of Brighton, was pastor here 
for many years up to his death. He was succeeded by Father 
Rossi, who you all remember only recently died. To-day 
we have one of the most distinguished clergymen in the 
Catholic faith as the pastor of St. Columbkille Church, — 
Father Tracey, — a splendid gentleman, an earnest, honest 



BRIGHTON DAY. 23 

advocate of God's religion, an honor to the Catholic hier- 
archy, an honor to the American people, an honor to the 
United States of America. 

All I desire to say in closing is, that here to-day, under 
the blue canopy of heaven, with God's sun shining down 
upon the happy faces of this great gathering assembled to 
perform a duty, let us hope that one hundred years hence 
this crowd of people will be augmented twenty times, and 
that the same unity of purpose, unselfishness of desire, 
loyalty to God and patriotism to our nation's flag will pre- 
vail then as it does now. (Applause.) 

The children then sang "Hail Columbia, Happy Land." 

The original poem written for this occasion by Frederic A. 
Tupper, head-master of the Brighton High School, was 
read by Miss Helen A. Taylor, as follows: 



24 CELEBRATION OF 



POEM 

By Frederic Allison Tupper 

Head-Master of the Brighton High School, A^ 

President of the Massachusetts Teachers' Associa 



Above the Gilded Dome and higher yet 

The proud hills rise that guard our ancient town, 
Ascend these hills, and ne'er canst thou forget 

What prospects greet the gazer looking down; 
Through mist and smoke wreaths or bright atmospheie, 

See spire and dome and buildings towering high, 
Religion's homes, the marts to traffic dear, 

Famed hostelries, and schools come ever nigh. 
Like host advancing nearer and more near, 

The army of the mighty city comes ; 
'Tis Boston rectifying her frontier 

With noise of traffic as of martial drums. 
The glistening Charles runs shining to the sea 

Past Cambridge, in whose glories Brighton shares — 
Cambridge our Stratford shall forever be, 

The Charles, our Avon, as it seaward fares ; 
For by the banks of this our quiet stream 

Poets have lived and won the world's applause ; 
Here unafraid each poet dreamed his dream, 

Here thinkers fearless seek each hidden cause. 
Tower of Mount Auburn, City of the dead. 

The great, the good, the noble and the free, 
Whose gentle influence o'er earth hath spread, 

And taught mankind the grace of truth to see, 
Guard well, gray granite tower, those storied graves 

That draw our love as by enchanter's spell, 
And long as Charles the Cambridge border laves, 

At dawn, at sunset, murmur, "All is well." 
And there Memorial Hall looms towards the sky, 

Vast as the gracious thought for which it stands, 
To show that not in vain young heroes die 

For freedom in our best of all the lands. 
Truth, Freedom, Service, are the watchwords high 

Embodied in Memorial's solid tower, 
And never shall the cherished memories die 

Of those who kept our land from foeman's power. 
Our stadium, which Cambridge, doubtless, claims. 

Is none the less built on the Brighton side, 




F. A. TUPPER 
Poet. 



HELEN A. TAYLOR. 
Reader of Poem. 



JOHN L. B PRATT. 
Chairman Committee on Orati( 



M. J. COYLE, 
Chairman Committee on Parade 



BRIGHTON DAY. 

And here in June, when Harvard Crimson flames 

With Class Day splendors and with Seniors' pride, 
What plaudits through our Coliseum roll! 

What beauty decks the scene with colors gay! 
What wit and eloquence the throng control! 

What mad mock-battles of confetti play 
In harmless showers of flying missiles soft, 

While meshed in wires each rainbow's colored ray 
Glows in the sunlight tangled there aloft, 

In shimmering charm of iridescent spray, 
As if ten thousand Irises had come 

Adown the rainbow paths from Heaven's gate, 
To take their places in the Stadium 

And let their variegated highways wait! 
And here, when autumn cools the summer air, 

Lo! the great throng that fills that podium vast, 
The cheers, the shouts, the songs, the enlivening blare 

Of martial music loyal to the last. 
Ten thousand flags of blue are floating high, 

Ten thousand sons of Yale their fealty keep. 
Ten thousand crimson banners wave reply, 

Ten thousand Harvard hearts exultant leap ; 
And when amid the din of deafening cries, 

And waving flags and rivalry of cheers, 
The stalwart champions greet those waiting eyes, 

And long for battle with their college peers, 
Then honor, courage, strength and skill combine 

In manly strife for academic fame, 
And up and down the field the crimson line 

Combats the blue in dear old Harvard's name. 
"Ill fares the land," as poet sang of old, 

"111 fares the land" whose sons shall grow too weak 
To love the toil of manly sports and bold, 

Too indolent the laurel wreath to seek. 
Such nations must inevitably fall 

A coward prey to those whose stalwart band 
Grows strong and quick to heed stern Duty's call. 

And manfully to guard their own dear land. 
Thy daughter hails thee, Cambridge, and asserts 

Her right to share thy fame of sword and pen, 
When Cambridge power to Boston rule reverts, 

Mother and daughter shall be one again. 
Thy sons, O Brighton! ever true have been, 

When rang the trumpet call that war proclaims ; 
Nor march, nor tented field, nor cannon's din, 

Nor seven times heated furnace of war's flame. 
Nor prison made their splendid courage fail, 

Nor love of home or wealth could quell their zeal. 
Nor shot nor screaming shell could make them quail 

Or stay their charges on the foeman's steel ; 



26 CELEBRATION OP 

And when the glad word "Forward!" full and clear 

Rang loud and fearless through the battle's crash, 
No Brighton soldiers ever thought of fear, 

But on the foe their conquering columns dash. 
And when the summit's height was gained at last, 

And foeman's shots grew faint and far and few, 
There where the Stars and Bars their challenge cast, 

The Stars and Stripes swept proudly into view. 
Such work as that deserves immortal praise. 

And meed of honor lasting long as time. 
Our heroes could not live "inglorious days," 

But risked their all to win a cause sublime — 
Ay, gave their lives, for many a soldier sleeps 

The sleep of glory far from his dear home, 
Yet still our love its lasting vigil keeps, 

Nor can it from their flower-decked couches roam. 
Look yet once more! What charming scene appears! 

See hills and valleys, farms and stately homes, 
Fair gardens, groves the growth of many years, 

Spires, roofs and battlements and airy domes, 
Clear in the light or shrouded in the mist, 

More beautiful than landscapes in a dream, 
But less impalpable than sunset-kissed 

Venetian splendors such as artists deem 
Of peerless beauty, though the views of home 

May far surpass the scenes of distant shore, 
And often he who farthest forth would roam. 

May come to love the landscape near his door. 
Let him who will praise other towns as fair, 

Or speed to foreign climes in beauty's quest, 
Small need hath Brighton ever to despair 

With dower of beauty richer than the rest. 
Her happy homes rejoice in cooling shade 

Of trees that live to prove ancestral care ; 
Her gardens month by month in bright parade 

Blush with the beauty of the flowers most rare ; 
Her lakes in summer send the sunbeams back 

In flashing splendor to the azure skies, 
In winter, changed to skaters' diamond track, 

Ring with the steel that o'er their surface flies ; 
Her noble highways, reaching far and wide. 

Lead straight to Boston and to Boston's best ; 
A Brighton suburb is the Back Bay's pride. 

It's part of Brighton, Brighton's all the rest ; 
And much of "Brookline's Edge" is Brighton, too, 

Although that town of wealth scorns Boston's sway, 
And Aberdeen and Faneuil, 'tis true, 

Are only Brighton spelled a different way. 



BRIGHTON DAY. 27 

Spirits of those who made our old town great. 

Gardner, who gave his life at Bunker Hill, 
Allston, that glorious soul so loved by fate. 

That o'er the world his name is cherished still ; 
Sparhawk. and Warren, Winship, goodly names, 

Dana and Whitney, Worcester, known afar, 
Foster and Breck and Baldwin, men whose aims 

Were pure and noble as their memories are, 
And all ye others who have helped our State 

Grow nobly prosperous by unselfish toil, 
Help us again ourselves to dedicate 

To public service, selfishness to foil. 
A vision of the future through the haze 

Of coming years delights the gazing eyes ; 
Besides the wealth of these most prosperous days 

A higher wealth shall waken glad surprise, 
And civic virtue, as in olden times, 

Shall heed the sacred brotherhood of man, 
And public spirit worthy loftiest rhymes. 

With courage fearless of the spoilman's ban, 
With honor as its watchword true and tried, 

Shall shun no duty at the people's call. 
And justice shall be then exemplified, 

And right shall be the common lot of all. 
So shall our city be the proudest boast 

Of all the peopled towns from sea to sea, 
The chieftain of dear Liberty's vast host, 

The peerless vanguard leader of the free. 

After "Annie Laurie" by the Beethoven Quartette, the 
chairman said: We are honored, fellow-citizens, to-day, 
with the presence of a high official of the State, and I am only 
too happy to introduce to you the Speaker of the House of 
Representatives, the Hon. John N. Cole. (Applause.) 



28 CELEBRATION OF 



ADDRESS 

By Hon. John N. Cole 



Mr. Chairman and Fellow-citizens of Brighton: I came 
here with but one order, and that was from my friend Mr. Fisk 
— to talk to you five minutes or less. Since I took my seat here 
various messages have arrived from His Honor the Mayor 
that he is so many miles away, and, a little later, so many 
minutes away, and so now I arise with a second order, and 
that is to keep the thing a-going until the Mayor comes. Well, 
now, I probably can't do that unless he comes pretty soon. 
But it does give me pleasure, ladies and gentlemen, to come 
here and help you to celebrate not alone the Old Home Week, 
but to come to you from a town two hundred and sixty years 
old and bring a greeting to a sister town at a time when she 
marks the close of her first century. 

Those of us who are old and those of us who can look back 
for many years have coming up to us when we think of the 
title of this great week here in Boston, the Old Home Week, 
the thought of what that beautiful word ' ' home " means. Many 
of us can recall, somewhere back in that little town from 
whence we came, the gate that always swings in, the rustle 
of the trees in summer that always bid us welcome, the fire- 
side in the winter, and the bountiful board at that festal 
occasion when so many of us go back there, and we say, 
"There, indeed, is the old home welcome." 

I can't exactly enthuse over the idea that any great city 
can get into the spirit of what the true Old Home Week 
means. But here in Brighton, linking to that idea the com- 



BRIGHTON DAY. 29 

memoration of one hundred years of history as a town, you 
can say, "Come back to Brighton and get into the idea," as 
we back in the country can. So you, it seems to me, above 
all other parts of this city, are in the very be'st spirit for ( >ld 
Home Week. 

Now, I know that thirty years ago the Town of Brighton 
lost its identity as a town, and yet, my friends, it seems to me 
that no town in the land has a larger responsibility for the 
affairs of the community than has that town which, losing 
its identity as a town, brings to the city which has absorbed 
it the town ideals of life. There is your responsibility as you 
look back upon one hundred years behind and link those heri- 
tages with the future which is before you. 

Why, my friends, you bring to Boston what no other part 
of the city, save as it came into the city as this ward has, can 
possibly bring. What do you bring? You bring the town 
heritage of individual responsibility. Do you know to-day 
that men don't think on public affairs in the cities as they 
do in the towns. You who are to the city born may at times 
ridicule the idea that you see pictured in the comic papers of 
how men in country towns take upon themselves the individ- 
ual responsibility. You see the little squib that illustrates 
the working out of an individual's road tax by that particular 
man, and you laugh and smile. But don't you know that 
those are the very things that have made a responsibility for 
government that must permeate this entire land or else the 
institutions of our government must fail? 

And so I say that you people who come with your heritage 
of your town life have a wonderful responsibility in the con- 
duct of affairs in the city of which you are now a part. 

And then there was borne in on the towns as nowhere else 
the spirit of intense patriotism. The real patriot, the strong- 
est and most vigorous patriot at the time when he was called 



30 CELEBRATION OF 

to meet the crisis, was the patriot of the country town, in 
his cowhide boots and in all the other garb that marked him 
as a farmer. And then there is that intense loyalty to the 
institutions of the land with the countryman as above every- 
one else. 

I think perhaps that it is not out of place for me to put 
these little thoughts before you, coming as I do from a coun- 
try town. These are the things that you have as heritages 
of the old Town of Brighton, and that should inspire you to 
do a larger part in the active affairs of life here in Boston 
than some other citizens are doing. 

A faith in your government, a confidence in your fellow- 
men, oh, how those two things are needed to-day! Men are 
going up and down this land decrying the foundations and the 
forms of government in this land. My friends, for over a hun- 
dred years it has stood all the test of time, and it is a form of 
government that has carried this nation on in such tremen- 
dous strides as have set the world aghast. And these men 
who would offer you new solutions of the great problems of 
government need to get back to mother earth and need to 
recall upon such occasions as this upon what the country is 
founded — confidence in our fellow-men ! Oh, how we dis- 
trust them to-day! You look upon the men who have made 
Brighton — there has never been a time in the history of the 
town when certain people who have been prominent haven't 
suffered for it, when there hasn't been distrust, when there 
hasn't been a feeling that men could not be trusted with great 
things. And yet, as you look back upon the prospect, great 
things have been done. Honest men have lived, and never 
more true than to-day is it that honest men will ever control 
affairs just as long as honest people like you put them into 
the powerful places to control. Now, what should these her- 
itages arouse us to think upon to-day? You people, as I 



BRIGHTON DAY. 31 

have said, because of your town training have a tremendous 
responsibility in the city life, and these heritages should 
arouse you to a responsibility for the government of this City 
of Boston that cannot be felt by any other than that type of 
man whose one hand reaches back into the ages of town life, 
and whose other hand, and his head and heart, are set firmly 
toward the accomplishment of what is best for government, 
for humanity, for all life, in the present. 

These are the times when we are told there are dangerous 
tendencies in city government. Well, I like to say again 
what it seems to me the town stands for. Do you know that 
this country came and grew out of little settlements and 
towns, and that there was never a city in it? Do you know 
that they are all towns, and that the city is but the creation 
of that great body politic, the state, and that it is only by 
sufferance of the state that it does exist? Aye! celebrate 
the one hundredth anniversary of Brighton, celebrate the 
anniversary of every town in New England, for by so doing 
you will elevate those town ideals, and you will let the city 
life partake of them to its great profit. 

I want you to understand that while we are sometimes 
accused in Boston of too much government for the cities, 
after all, my friends, it is the work that we must do just so 
long as the people of the cities fail to appreciate their part in 
that government. And now, you people of Brighton, you 
townsmen of Brighton, can do more for good government 
in the city of your adoption than any other possible force in 
this land. (Applause.) 

I know it is sometimes said that we no longer have that 
class of people whom we can trust to govern our cities, our 
state and our nation. I recall an incident that came to me 
three or four months ago as I was leaving the City of Law- 
rence, and took the train, and afterwards was to pass on nut 



32 CELEBRATION OF 

into the western part of the state. One of those good old 
cranky pessimists, who had made millions of dollars in 
the mills of Lawrence, came and sat beside me, and he said, 
"I don't think that things look very nice for this country, 
Mr. Speaker. It looks to me as if the kind of people who are 
in control couldn't any longer be trusted." I thought of 
how he had profited by the skilled work of six thousand 
mill workers in the City of Lawrence for many years, and I 
maintained silence, and thought all the way in of the various 
comments along that line that he had made. I took the train 
to Springfield, and in Springfield I took the trolley and rode 
over into Holyoke, and those words were ever with me; 
and as I came into the City of Holyoke the first thing that 
struck my eye was a group of three buildings which 
said all in a flash, "There is the answer to that man's 
pessimism." The first was the church with the spire point- 
ing heavenward, and from out its window one could almost 
see the watchlight that stood for Christianity controlling 
the world. And right beside it there the great handsome 
high school building of the City of Holyoke, mammoth in 
its proportions, ample and beautiful in its architecture, 
standing there as it did as a sentinel for education for 
these people. And under the eaves almost of that building 
was another building, a plain brick structure, on its front 
the shield of the Commonwealth, which represented what 
the armory of the Commonwealth always represents — the 
power of organized law and protection in the Common- 
wealth. Anil I said, "Oh, you pessimist, cry out against 
these people, say that the future is not secure, and then 
look on those three buildings and revise your ideas! For 
there in those institutions is the future of this great state, 
is the future of this nation." And in the confidence and 
belief that those institutions are ample to ever keep a people 



BRIGHTON DAY. 33 

and their representatives pure, and clean, and foremost in 
good works, I left my pessimistic friend, and I rested secure 
in the thought. 

I am delighted to be here with you to-day. I congratulate 
you on this one hundredth anniversary. May I leave the 
town greeting of more than two hundred and sixty years of 
my own native place, and say to you people, "Keep alive 
not only your love for the city, but keep alive the memory 
of your dear old town." (Applause.) 

The Chairman. — The next speaker is so well known to 
you that he needs no introduction, the Mayor of the City of 
Boston, the Hon. John F. Fitzgerald. (Applause.) 



34 CELEBRATION OF 



ADDRESS 

By Hon. John F. Fitzgerald 



Brighton has ever occupied a conspicuous place in the 
history of the country and in the state and in the city, from 
the time when it separated from Cambridge, more than one 
hundred years ago, until thirty-three years ago when it 
became a part of the City of Boston. Her citizens have 
been foremost in every movement that led to the better- 
ment of the Commonwealth and the better government 
of the city. 

And it is in that spirit that I, as the chief executive of 
this city, gladly and willingly come here before you and say 
in behalf of the citizens of Boston that we congratulate you 
upon the prosperity that exists here in every domain of 
this part of the city, congratulate you upon the splendid 
homes that have been erected here, congratulate you upon 
the public spirit that has been displayed ever by the citizens 
of Brighton, and wish that God may prosper you in the 
future and that happiness and success may follow you and 
yours. (Applause.) 

In America we are beginning to mark from, and history 
is read in, terms not of years, but of centuries. In Virginia, 
"the Mother of Presidents," the tercentenary of the settle- 
ment of Jamestown is being commemorated, and to-day 
we celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the corporate 
existence of this thriving community. 

It is peculiarly fitting that these exercises commemora- 
tive of the one hundredth anniversary of the incorporation 




HON. CHARLES D. B. FISK 



BRIGHTON DAY. 35 

of the Town of Brighton should bo an important feature in 
Boston's "Old Home Week" celebration. Brighton since 
the very beginning of its existence has been distinctively a 
town of homes, less influenced by trade and business than 
other sections of Boston. Originally a part of Cambridge, 
it was set off as a separate parish in 1779, and a few years 
later it was incorporated as the Town of Brighton. Sixty- 
seven years of prosperous existence as an independent civil 
division were brought to a close in 1874, when the town 
was annexed to Boston. 

Although in the early years grants of land were made to 
any persons desirous of settling within the limits of "Little 
Cambridge," as it was then called, the early growth of the 
settlement was slow. Among the pioneers to seek homes in 
the little colony were Champney and Sparhawk, Richard 
Dana, John Jackson, Samuel Holly, William Redfern, Ran- 
dolph Bush and William Clements. Here the Nonantum 
tribe of Indians lived on friendly terms with the first white 
settlers. Here, at what is now Oak square, beneath the 
spreading branches of the "Old Oak" as a canopy, the 
Apostle Eliot preached to the Nonantum Sachem Waban 
and his assembled braves. 

It may be interesting to know that the first bridge across 
the Charles river was built in 1662 to connect Brighton and 
Cambridge. The cost of maintaining the structure was 
eventually borne in part by the towns of Newton, Brighton, 
Cambridge and Lexington. In this arrangement we may 
see the beginning of the present metropolitan scheme of 
dividing the cost of an improvement over and among the 
cities and towns shown to be benefited. 

In the bitter struggle for American Independence the 
men of Brighton will be found to have shared largely in the 
perils and suffering of the Revolution. Here lived Col. 



36 CELEBRATION OF 

Thomas Gardner, whose name is gratefully perpetuated in 
the handsomest school building in the district, who fell 
mortally wounded while leading his men at the battle of 
Bunker Hill. In a letter to the Revolutionary Committee 
in Boston in the previous year he says, "I have the greatest 
reason to believe that the people will choose rather to fall 
gloriously in the cause of their country than meanly to 
submit to slavery." To-day the women of the Thomas 
Gardner Chapter of the D. A. R. will reverently unveil and 
dedicate a tablet to mark the site of the house in which he 
died. Such was the spirit of the Brighton men in the old 
days. Here, in those glorious days which marked a nation's 
birth, we might have found Peter Faneuil visiting his stanch 
old Tory brother Benjamin. Here lived Richard Champney, 
one of the earliest benefactors of Harvard College. Here, 
too, dwelt Noah Worcester, the "Apostle of Peace." 

Nor were the men of Brighton false to their traditions of 
honor and patriotism in that later day when the nation was 
to be torn by civil conflict. That they proved true to the 
memories of the heroes of Brighton in other days can be seen 
in the proud record won by soldiers in the Rebellion who 
enlisted from this old town. During that savage contest 
two hundred and twenty-three men went to the front from 
Brighton, of whom twenty-three gave up their lives on south- 
ern battlefields for the renewal of the pledge of liberty and 
equality, in defence of which then fathers had fought so 
bravely almost a century before. 

While from the beginning the sole industry had been 
farming and horticulture, during recent years many large 
manufacturing establishments have located here. For years 
the town was famed for its cattle fair, begun during the 
Revolutionary period and ever increasing in importance. 
During the late investigation of such institutions through- 



BRIGHTON DAY. 37 

out the country by a United States Commission her famous 
abattoir received the highest praise accorded any similar 
plant in the country, its cleanliness and sanitary condition 
coming in for special praise. 

Although during the early period of her existence Brighton's 
growth was slow, there has been in the past two decades an 
increase in population amounting to more than 155 per 
cent. The future of the district is full of the promise of an 
even greater growth in the next few years, for this district 
with its manifold advantages is attracting to itself larger 
numbers of homeseekers every year. To meet the demands 
of this rapid and continuous growth the city authorities of 
this and former administrations have deemed it wise to 
make the most generous appropriations towards public 
improvements of every character. The wisdom of this 
policy is to be seen in the transformation of the farms of a 
few years ago into the thickly settled districts of to-day. 

The highest ideals of citizenship, lofty patriotism and 
devotion to the civic service here abide, and will abide for- 
ever, in the name of Faneuil, and the limner's art is remem- 
bered in the name of Allston. 

The old milldam has given place to a magnificent boulevard, 
fittingly called Commonwealth avenue, while the Beacon 
boulevard furnishes an appropriate entrance to beautiful 
Aberdeen, a section which gives to Brighton the well deserved 
title of the "Shrine of Boston." 

I congratulate you, my fellow-citizens, upon this centennial 
anniversary; I congratulate you upon the progress which you 
have made, and which is but an earnest and a promise of still 
greater progress to come; I felicitate you upon the thousands 
of happy homes in our midst, in which peace and content- 
ment reign. When my successor, one hundred years from 
now, shall take his place here to congratulate those who come 



38 CELEBRATION OF 

after you upon the close of a second century of corporate exist- 
ence, may he, in the prosperity with which he shall have 
found this community further enriched, find cause to thank 
you, the sturdy citizens of to-day, the men and women of 
1907, and hold you up to grateful reverence and worthy imita- 
tion, as I now, your chief magistrate, make grateful mention 
of the fathers of 1807, who resolved to stand alone, and 
built a town government on the foundation stones of self- 
reliance and civic and private morality, and in so doing 
builded better than they knew. (Applause.) 

The Chairman. — Our guest from a neighboring city, Mayor 
Wardwell of Cambridge, will now address us. 



BRIGHTON DAY. 39 



ADDRESS 

By Hon. Walter C. Wardwell 



Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: It would indeed be 
presumptuous in me to hold you here for any extended 
remarks, but I do feel that perhaps it is my duty as represent- 
ing the city across the river to extend to you felicitations 
and congratulations upon the success of this one hundredth 
anniversary in Brighton and the Old Home Week in Boston 
that is being so gloriously celebrated during these last few 
days. 

It has been indeed a pleasure to me to see the people enjoy 
themselves as they have, and I want to congratulate you 
upon the beauty of this clay, upon the success of it all. 
Some one said to me, "I am sorry you couldn't have been 
here to see our living flag"; but when I look over to yonder 
school-house and see the component parts of that flag scat- 
tered upon that green sward, and when I see the public library 
on my right and Old Glory before me, I feel that God is good 
and that you here in old Ward 25 have reason to be proud 
and happy. 

His Honor the Mayor has told you about a very interest- 
ing and impressive parade that passed through the streets 
of the City of Boston a few moments ago; and it was my 
privilege to stand with him and watch the review, and I saw 
many faces of boys in blue that I know and love and have 
served with, because I was a militia boy for twenty-seven 
years. And then I took a little trip out here with his Honor 
the Mayor, and while I held on to the edge of the auto- 



40 CELEBRATION OF 

mobile I thought of the distinguished guest that passed 
several days with him this week, the Vice-President of the 
United States, who is now out somewhere to have a little 
rest. (Laughter.) And I really thought that if I could 
keep up with the pace of His Honor the Mayor, I should feel 
myself very much "in it." (Laughter.) 

I want to thank you for this reception. I want to con- 
gratulate you upon the day, upon all connected with it, and 
urge you ever to manifest the same spirit of civic pride that 
this Old Home Week has brought out throughout the length 
and breadth of New England. 

Old Home Week and all that it stands for! What does it 
mean? We' are stirred by our local pride, we welcome our 
friends back here, we welcome the stranger within our gates, 
and we have had with them a right glorious good time. And 
I believe it is going to redound to your benefit and to their 
benefit and to the benefit of us all. 

1 thank you very much indeed for your courtesy. 
(Applause.) 

The Chairman. — One verse of "America," in which you 
are all invited to join. 

(The whole assembly sang a verse of "America.") 

The proceedings were brought to a close by Mr. J. P. C. 
Winship pronouncing the benediction. 




J P C WINSHIP 



BRIGHTON DAY. 41 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS 

BY J. P. C. WlNSHIP 



The recognition of the centennial anniversary of the estab- 
lishment of Brighton as an independent town and the enter- 
tainments of this our Home Week are patriotic expressions 
for peace, hospitality, success and happiness. 

It is a source of great pleasure to fully appreciate our 
country. Its position between the two great oceans, its 
marvellous beauties, fertility, exceeding wealth and civiliza- 
tion all tend to its greatness. Then turn to its history, which 
shows the noblest actions, based on religious freedom and the 
right of suffrage. 

We have acquired a high position in the minds of the world's 
people, and it is our duty to sustain it. 

The most wonderful advance our nation has made during 
the past one hundred years is in education. To this, in duty. 
honor and right, all parties are strictly and nobly loyal. 

There is much in the history of Brighton that young people 
should study to lead them in patriotic channels: The nobility 
of able men and their accomplishments — the heroes of the 
Revolution, of the War of 1812 and the Civil war — the 
recognition of the Peace celebration by our schools, which, 
perhaps, was not recognized by any other town or city in the 
United States — the influence of Rev. Noah Worcester, the 
"Apostle of Peace"' — the advance in educational affairs 
and the creation of a public library — the agricultural fairs 
and their influence upon industries — all tend to create 
ambition for better, purer and nobler citizenship. 



42 CELEBRATION OF 

Brighton is unique in the fact that she was a part of Cam- 
bridge, and thus connected with Lexington, which adjoins 
Concord. By the annexation of Brighton to Boston, she 
became united to Roxbury, Dorchester, Dorchester Heights, 
Charlestown with its Bunker Hill, and Plymouth Rock 
almost within megaphone distance. This may exceed in 
historic honor any other town or city in the United States. 

Boston was settled September 30, 1630, by Gov. John 
Winthrop and his party. Cambridge was settled in 1631 
under the name of Newe Town by Governor Winthrop, 
Deputy Governor Dudley and other prominent men, who 
designed to make it the chief town in Massachusetts Colony. 

The first buildings in Newe Town were erected in the 
spring of 1631. The same year "Rev. Thomas Hooker, the 
first settled minister, arrived from England, accompanied 
by Lieut. Edward Winship " and others. 

Many of the following incidents relate to Brighton, which 
was until 1807 known as the South Side, or Little Cambridge. 
Among the first settlers on the South Side were Richard 
Champney, Nathaniel Sparhawk, Richard Dana, John Jack- 
son, Samuel Holly, Randolph Bush, William Redsen and 
William Clements. 

In 1635 a ferry was established where the Great bridge 
was later built to connect with the highway to Roxbury, 
through North Harvard street and Harvard avenue. 

In 1636 a public school was established in Newe Town, 
the General Court appropriating £400 for the purpose. This 
school was endowed by the Rev. John Harvard and styled 
Harvard College. 

May 2, 1638, the town adopted the name of Cambridge. 

Between 1640 and 1647 there were over fifty-seven land- 
owners in Little Cambridge, among whom the following- 
named persons owned houses: John Benjamin, house and 



BRIGHTON DAY. 43 

twelve acres of land; Edward Anger, thirty acres and little 
house; Samuel Holly, one dwelling and seventy-eight acres; 
John Jackson, house and eighteen acres; Nathaniel Spar- 
hawk, 329 acres, house and barn; Edmond Anger, house, barn 
and sixty-six acres; William Andrews, dwelling, out-houses 
and 200 acres; William Clements, dwelling-house ami sixteen 
acres; John Jackson, dwelling-house and fourteen acres; 
Samuel Holly, dwelling-house and thirty-seven acres; Ran- 
dolph Bush, dwelling-house and eighteen acres; William 
Redsen, dwelling and four acres; E. Jackson, house and 
twenty-three acres. 

The spinning wheel was a necessary article, and continued 
in use over two hundred years. 

The laws and punishments were very severe. Kissing was 
a questionable act, especially on Sunday. 

In 1640 the dividing line was settled between Brooklinc 
and Brighton. 

In 1643 the first public school was established in Cam- 
bridge. 

In 1662 the Great bridge was built at a cost of £200. 
In 1685 it was swept away by a high tide. The ferry was 
then resumed. 

In 1664 the Newton line was established and Little Cam- 
bridge credited with 2,660 £ acres. 

In December, 1675, Peter Henchel Joshua Woods, Samuel 
Hide and Jonathan Bush, on the south side of the river, 
were impressed for the Narragansett War. 

The Nonantum tribe of Indians, with Waban their chief, 
resided a little west of the Gray mansions, and their trail was 
down through what is now Nonantum street under the Great 
Oak, by a path along the river through the woods to a beach 
where the Abattoir now stands. In 1826 the tribe became 
extinct. 



44 CELEBRATION OF 

The Indian name of Charles river was Quinobeguin. 
The fisheries were of considerable importance; bass, shad, 
alewives, smelts, frostfish and eels were caught, principally 
by nets. 

Regarding slavery: "There shall never be any bond, 
slaverie, villinage or Captivitie amongst us, unless it is law- 
ful Captives in past warres, and such strangers as willingly 
call themselves or are sold to us." 

In 1788 slavery was abolished in Massachusetts. 

Little Cambridge depended upon Cambridge for church ser- 
vices until about 1656, when Edward Jackson opened his 
house, near the dividing line between Newton and Brighton, 
as a place of worship, and a number of Brighton people 
attended. 

In 1668 "Elder Champney and Mr. Oakes were appointed 
to catechize the youth on the south side of the Bridge. " 

Newton was set off from Cambridge in 1678. 

In 1688 no single tax in all Cambridge exceeded twelve 
shillings and one penny. Little Cambridge's highest tax 
was ten shillings and seven pence. 

In 1690 the County paid £52 for killing fifty-two wolves. 
In 1696 seventy-six wolves were killed, at thirteen shillings 
and four pence each. 

Milestones from Boston via Roxbury to Cambridge were 
erected by Paul Dudley in 1729. One of them is situated in 
the yard of the North Harvard-street School. 

CHURCHES. 

Between 1730 and 1744 a deserted dwelling was used for 
a meeting-house. It is supposed to have been located at 
the southwest corner of Cambridge and North Harvard 
streets. 

January 29, 1738-9, the citizens of Little Cambridge " voted 
to provide a meeting-house spot." February 15 a "spot of 



BRIGHTON DAY. 45 

land" was provided on what is now the northeast corner of 
Washington and Market streets. The estimate of a suitable 
building was £380. In 1744 the building was erected. May 
1, 1779, Little Cambridge was incorporated as an ecclesi- 
astical parish and styled the Third Parish, or Little Cam- 
bridge. The precinct followed King's Chapel in the 
Unitarian belief. July 2G Rev. John Foster, D.D., was 
unanimously elected pastor, and ordained November 1, 1784. 
Resigned October 31, 1827. 

In 1788 Nathaniel Champney was fined for refusing to 
serve as collector. He concluded to save the fine by serving. 
In 1801 the parish purchased cloth to dress the pulpit. 
"Voted that Daniel Bowen be at the expense of the cloth 
presented to the Rev. J. Foster. Voted that the thanks of 
the Parish be given to Mr. Bowen for the cloth." 

September 21, 1808, a new church was erected north of the 
old church and dedicated June 22, 1809. The old building 
was moved to land opposite the new Town Hall later built. 
The lower floor was converted into two school-rooms and the 
upper floor used as a Town Hall. 

The first Sunday school was established early in 1826. 

The following pastors served prior to annexation- — Dr. 
Foster, as previously declared; Rev. Daniel Austin, June, 
1828, to November, 1837; Rev. Abner D. Jones, February, 
1839, to October, 1842; Rev. F. A. Whitney, April, 1843, to 
1859; Rev. Charles Noyes, January, 1800, to April, 1865; 
Rev. Samuel W. McDaniels, August, 1866, to July, 1869; 
Rev. Thomas Timmins, 1870, to December, 1871; Rev. 
Edward I. Galvin, November, 1872, to October, 1876. 

The Brighton Evangelical Congregational Church was 
organized April 4, 1827. The building was dedicated Septem- 
ber 13, 1827. Rev. George W. Blagden was ordained Decem- 
ber 26, 1827, and resigned September 8, 1830. He was very 



46 CELEBRATION OF 

highly honored. Rev. William Adams, February, 1831, to 
April, 1834; Rev. William W. Newhall, August, 1834, to June, 
1837; Rev. Samuel Lamson, Jr., September, 1837, to Sep- 
tember, 1841; Rev. John R. Adams, February, 1842, to 
December, 1846; Rev. Arthur Swazey, October, 1847, to 
May, 1856; Rev. Thomas 0. Rice, May, 1858, to July, 1859; 
Rev. Richard G. Greene, September, 1860, to August, 1862; 
Rev. John P. Cushman, May, 1863, to April, 1866; Rev. 
Daniel T. Packard, December 6, 1866, he resigned June 11, 
1873; Rev. Henry A. Stevens, 1874 to June, 1881. 

Brighton-avenue Baptist Church was provisionally organ- 
ized October 21, 1853 — permanently December 2; Rev. 
Joseph M. Graves engaged as pastor. The Sunday School 
had been organized and was adopted. Mr. Graves retired 
January 1, 1856. Rev. J. M. Bentham accepted a call 
July 28 and served one year. The new church was dedi- 
cated February 10, 1857. Rev. J. M. Parker served from 
August, 1858, to July, 1859; Rev. S. M. Stimpson, August, 
1859, one year; Rev. Ralph H. Bowles, August 25, 1861, 
to September 8, 1866; Rev. William Thompson, August 6, 
1868, to August 31, 1871; Rev. F. E. Tower, January 18, 
1872, to May 17, 1883. 

St. Margaret's Episcopal Church. Services were first 
held September 10, 1854, by Rev. Cyrus F. Knight, of 
Brighton (he was elected bishop March 26, 1889). He 
resigned the latter part of 1861. January S, 1S62, the church 
was organized with Rev. David G. Haskins rector. The 
church edifice was erected in 1864; September 5 it was 
dedicated. In 1872 the church property was sold and a 
new parish organized with Rev. Charles A. Holbrook rector. 
Rev. Thomas Cole succeeded Rev. Mr. Holbrook. 

St. Columbkille's Catholic Church. In 1856 Father J. M. 
Finotti was appointed pastor of Brookline and Brighton. 



BRIGHTON DAY. 47 

The latter was a mission district until 1871, when Father 
Finotti's pastorship closed. The same year Rev. Patrick J. 
Rogers took charge of the parish. He died January 10, 1879. 

Universalist Church. A parish was organized June 12, 
1860. A church was erected in 1861 on Cambridge Street, 
and dedicated August 7, 1861. Rev. James Eastwood 
was the first pastor, from July, 1861, to 1864. Rev. T. W. 
Silloway served as pastor from July, 1864, until May, 1868. 
Rev. J. W. Keyes served from May, 1868, to September, 
1869. Revs. J. E. Johnson and W. A. Start each served a 
few months. Rev. J. V. Wilson was pastor from April, 
1872, to April, 1874; Rev. J. G. Adams, D.D., from 1876 
to August, 1878; Rev. B. F. Eaton, from October, 1878, to 
1887, when the church was disbanded. 

Methodist Episcopal Church. March 24, 1872, Rev. 
William R. Clark, D.D., organized the church. In April 
Rev. John P. Otis was appointed preacher. In April, 1874, 
Rev. William T. Perrin was appointed pastor. This year 
Brighton was annexed to Boston. 

SCHOOLS. 

Early in the settlement of the country, children were 
educated at home. Then followed private schools, and a 
number were established in Brighton, and boys were fitted 
for Harvard. Young men came from other States for such 
instruction. About 1780 the first decidedly classical school 
was opened in the second story of a building at the junction 
of Cambridge and Washington streets, on the Winship estate. 

In 1722 Daniel Dana, son of Richard, gave a lot of land 
(east of and adjoining land later used for the First church) 
for a public school. A school-house was soon after erected. 

October 27, 1777, Ebenezer Smith's bequest of six and 
three-quarters acres of land in Newton was accepted for the 
benefit of the Central school. 



48 CELEBRATION OF 

There are seventeen school funds benefiting schools in 
different parts of our city amounting to over $137,000, but 
this bequest of Ebenezer Smith has been absorbed by the 
city. Coporation Counsel Bailey declared that its full value 
should be credited the Brighton school or schools. Many 
city officials have been applied to, for the purpose of righting 
this wrong, but nothing has been accomplished. 

May 17, 1779. Voted that the school-house be for the use 
of a woman's school during the summer months. 

December 5, 1780. Jonathan Winship, Lieut. Eben Seaver 
and Moses Robbins were elected as School Committee. 

October 24, 1783. Voted that the singers have the privi- 
lege of the school-house the ensuing season to learn to sing. 

In 1793 children were admitted to schools at the age of 
seven. Girls were educated until twelve years of age and 
boys until fourteen. The latter were instructed by masters. 

June 8, 1809. Voted to sell the old school-house and 
lease the land for ninety-nine years. This land adjoined 
the church property, and was given by Daniel Dana as 
previously declared. This land, like Ebenezer Smith's be- 
quest, was a special gift, and the lease should have continued 
for ninety-nine years, but in 1811 the land was sold. The 
least our city can do is to honor the name of Dana by a 
school building, otherwise Brighton citizens or Dana heirs 
may demand indemnification. 

Maj. Thomas Hovey, a veteran of the Revolution, was 
for many years the principal teacher in the town. He taught 
in the school-house next to the church lot. Rev. F. A. Whitney 
said he was accustomed to practice his pupils in marching and 
counter-marching. On February 22, 1800, when the death 
of Washington was observed, Master Hovey paraded his 
school children in solemn procession in Market square. 
" Each member was armed and equipped with a long 



BRIGHTON DAY. 49 

feathered quill, and it was supposed that, agreeably to the 
custom of military funeral processions, each scholar bore 
his quill reversed." 

Major Hovey died in 1807. 

In June, 1825, General Lafayette visited Brighton, and 
stopped at the hotel where the Police Station now stain Is: 
the school children were arranged in lines, between which 
the General and his son George Washington passed. 

There is so much of interest in the schools of Brighton 
that it is very difficult to discriminate in culling incidents 
suitable for so condensed a paper as requirements here 
demand; therefore I am very brief, satisfied with the fact 
that in my history of Brighton the facts are sufficiently 
recognized. 

May 3, 1841, John Ruggles was appointed principal of 
the boys' department on the lower floor of the Academy. 
Miss Delia A. Gardner had charge of the girls in the upper 
story of the building. 

The schools of the town were the High, as stated; West 
District, Oak square; Centre school, Washington street; 
infant school, in Town Hall building; East District school, 
at Allston, and North District, School street. 

The new Town Hall was dedicated December 30. The 
High School was moved to the lower floor of the Town Hall 
building April 11, 1842. This year Brighton excelled all 
the towns of the state in liberality in the cause of education. 

In 1847 the Academy and one acre of land were purchased. 

September 29. The most advanced pupils of both sexes 
were transferred to the Academy. The remaining pupils 
formed the Harvard Grammar School under Mr. Solomon A. 
Poore. 

This year Massachusetts spent more money in public 
school education than Great Britain. 



50 CELEBRATION OF 

In 1848 the second grammar school on North Harvard 
street was established with Mr. Mark F. Duncklee master. 

January 10, 1873. The Everett Primary was inaugurated, 
having a kindergarten on the lower floor in charge of Miss 
Susie E. Pollock, who was thoroughly educated in Berlin 
kindergarten work. This has been recognized as the first 
public kindergarten in the United States. 

PUBLIC CONVEYANCES. 

In 1718 a stage line was established between Boston and 
Rhode Island. 

March 8, 1719, three stages per week from Boston to New 
York were run. 

In 1761 coach line to Portsmouth. 

In 1795 stage lines rapidly increased. 

The direct road from Brighton over Beacon street to 
Boston was opened July 2, 1821. 

About 1825 the Brighton stage ran from Boston to Newton 
Lower Falls with four horses driven by Mr. Manson. 

The "New England Palladium and Commercial Adviser," 
of September 1, 182G, gave notice that coaches would leave 
Brighton at 8 A.M. and 3.30 P.M. via Brookline and Rox- 
bury. Leaving Marlboro Hotel at 12 M. Fares each way 
twenty-five cents. 

In 1832 there were two stage lines from Boston; one via 
Brighton to Uxbridge, and the other via Cambridge and 
North Brighton. 

After the advent of steam cars in 1834 many stages were 
withdrawn. 

Timothy Bennett ran the first omnibus to Boston via 
Roxbury Neck. There was an old conundrum : "Why is a 
lady's shawl like the Brighton omnibus ? Because it goes 
over the neck and back." 




MRS. LEWIS J. HEWITT, 
Assistant Chairman Ladies' Auxiliary Committee. 

MRS GEORGE W YEATON 
Chairman Ladies' Auxiliary Commltte 
FRANK G. NEWHALL, 
Treasurer Citizens Committee 



LEWIS J. HEWITT 



CHARLES H. WARREN 
ecretary Citizens' Committe 



BRIGHTON DAY. 51 

Sumner Wellman succeeded Mr: Bennett, and a few years 
later hourly omnibuses were run direct to Boston. About 
1850 the tolls over the milldam were discontinued. 

In 1854 the Western Avenue Railway Company was 
incorporated, but Beacon street people objected. 

The Newton Railway Company was organized in 1857. 
A track was laid from Newton over Tremont, Washington 
and Cambridge streets to Cambridge. In 1863 the road 
passed to the Cambridge Company. 

Electric railways were not established until 1887. 

The Boston & Worcester Railroad was incorporated in 
June, 1831. On April 7, 1834, the first passenger train 
went as far as Davis' Tavern in Newton. Cannon welcomed 
the coming at Winship's gardens. The writer was present, 
but too young to take notes. This train was declared the 
first in the United States for passengers. May 16 regular 
trains, three each way, commenced running. Package 
tickets to Brighton 12| cts. each way. The first locomotive 
was from England. This was duplicated here. 

BURIAL GROUNDS. 

The Old Burial Ground on Market street, comprising 
half an acre of land, was arranged in 1764. Many epitaphs 
are interesting; all are recorded in the history of Brighton. 

Evergreen Cemetery. In 1848 a committee appointed 
by the citizens purchased fourteen acres of land on South 
street. The land was fenced, a receiving tomb built and 
avenues laid out and graded. The cemetery was conse- 
crated August 7, 1850. 

REVOLUTION. 

The chief cause of the Revolutionary War was "taxation 
without representation." Citizens demanded political free- 
dom, and gained more than they expected. In the present 



52 CELEBRATION OF 

century women are following the action of former lords, 
and by reverential and unsanguinary action claim similar 
rights, and they will nobly conquer. 

All citizens interested in freedom from tyranny took part 
in the war. April 19, 1775, Lord Percy with troops marched 
through Little Cambridge over the "Great bridge" to Lex- 
ington. 

Colonel Gardner was the chief actor from Little Cambridge. 
His ancestor, Thomas Gardner, vicar of St. Mary's, Sand- 
wich, England, sailed to this country March 17, 1634, and 
settled at Fort Ann. Colonel Gardner's father moved to 
Cambridge in 1725. In 1747 he purchased in Little Cam- 
bridge one hundred and ten acres of land. Thomas, the 
oldest child, married Johanna Sparhawk, and erected the 
building that was situated on the site of the present stable 
on the Tirrell estate, corner Brighton and Harvard avenues. 
Mr. Tirrell moved the old house to Allston street, near 
Brighton avenue, where it now stands under the gaze of 
the Daughters of the American Revolution, who are in 
hopes of having it saved as a patriotic memorial for the 
benefit of coming generations. 

Colonel Gardner, from 1769, was representative in the 
General Court, Provincial Congress, House of Representa- 
tives, member of the Committee of Safety, and was elected 
to Congress April 14, 1775. He was commissioned as ensign 
in 1765; lieutenant and captain in 1771, and colonel 
November 29, 1774. He enlisted a regiment and was made 
colonel June 2, 1775. He was determined and independent 
in defeating every tyrannical act and in promoting the 
interests of his country. 

At the battle of Lexington he sustained a responsible part. 
He was shot fatally at Bunker Hill, where he displayed 
great bravery. He was carried from the field on a litter of 



BRIGHTON DAY. 53 

rails. His son, a lieutenant, wished to attend his father. 
The latter reminded him of the glorious cause, and told him 
to inarch on and do his duty. A few days later the colonel 
was asked if he was well enough to see his son. "Yes," 
answered the hero, "if he has done his duty." 

Washington took command of the army July 3, 1775. 
He attended the funeral services of Colonel Gardner at the 
home of his sister on Western avenue. 

General Washington became well acquainted with Little 
Cambridge, and had an interesting experience at a dinner 
given in Benjamin Faneuil's home on Faneuil street, where 
Mr. Faneuil denounced as a rebel an officer who had accom- 
panied the General. 

CATTLE MARKET. 

In 1776, or soon after, Jonathan Winship received a con- 
tract from the United States government to supply the 
American army with meat. He notified the farmers near 
and far, and the slaughtered meat was delivered according 
to orders. Then the farmers became wise, and made the 
cattle bring their meat on hoofs to Brighton, and slaughter 
houses were erected. Thus was the market established. 

BRIGHTON INCORPORATED. 

February 17, 1806. In town meeting, voted to petition 
the General Court to be set off as a town. It was decided 
that the name of the town be Brighton, from Brighton, 
England, originally called Brighthelmstone, from Bright- 
helm, an Anglo-Saxon bishop of the Tenth Century. 

The town was incorporated February 24, 1807. 

Gorham Parsons, a leading citizen, presented a certified 
copy on parchment of the act of incorporation, and March 9 
received a vote of thanks for his presentation. The writer 
discovered this parchment in the archives at City Hall, 



54 CELEBRATION OF 

and by the assent of E. J. Donovan, Esq., City Clerk, was 
permitted to present it to the Holton Library. 

The librarian of the Boston Public Library has encased 
it for preservation, and it is now open for inspection by the 
public. 

WAR OF 1812. 

When the War of 1812 was declared, American ships in 
neutral ports were ordered to remain until the close of the 
war. Seaboard States were commissioned to take, burn, 
sink and destroy the enemy wherever they could be found. 

People labored night and day to fit out privateers. Nearly 
all New England men of means had money interests in this 
work, and Brighton was fairly represented. The British 
loss was far greater than the American. 

AGRICULTURAL FAIRS. 

The Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture was 
influenced by leading citizens of Brighton to establish an 
annual show of cattle. The first occurred October 8, 1816. 
Thirteen prizes were given, either in silver cups or money, 
as preferred. Cattle pens were ranged along the south side 
of Washington street, from Chestnut Hill avenue nearly to 
Foster street. Exercises were held in the meeting-house. 
The society and guests dined at Hastings' Tavern, northwest 
corner of Market and Washington streets. Plowing matches, 
etc., were instituted in 1817. The old Town Hall was used 
for exhibition of manufactured articles, vegetables, etc. 
In 1818 Abiel Winship offered an acre of land where the 
Winship Primary now stands, and the use of four acres of 
land in any part of his field. Agricultural Hall was erected 
on the acre lot, in which annual exhibitions were had. Many 
eminent men were entertained. Ex-President John Adams 
was a guest. Daniel Webster became a member. 



BRIGHTON DAY. • 55 

Iii 1830 County shows became numerous. In 1835 the last 
exhibition occurred. 

In 1844 the sale of the land realized $6,337.79. The society 
adopted the name of Winship place for the estate. The 
hall building was moved to Washington street, corner of 
Chestnut Hill avenue, and became the Eastern Market Hotel; 
there it now stands. 

The foregoing is a very condensed statement from the 
unpublished part of the history of Brighton. 

NURSERIES. 

Jonathan Winship established a nursery in 181G. In 1826 
his brother Francis joined under the firm of J. & F. Winship. 
The nurseries extended from Faneuil street to about five 
hundred feet north of the railroad on Market street, and on 
North Beacon street, nearly to the railroad bridge. In 1848 
F. L. Winship and E. A. Story, under the firm name of Win- 
ship & Co., succeeded. In 1853 Mr. Story was alone until 
1854, when the estate was divided. 

Joseph Breck was early engaged in horticulture, and was 
the eighth president of the Massachusetts Horticultural 
Society. He established a nursery on Washington street, 
in 1837, near the Brookline line, and in 1854 had a similar 
home between Nonantum and Tremont streets. 

J. L. F. F. Warren had a small nursery, which he con- 
ducted for a number of years prior to 1845. Evers & Bock 
succeeded. 

In 1840 Horace Gray erected the largest grape houses 
known in the United States. 

W. C. Strong, in 1848, purchased the Gray estate on 
Nonantum street, and continued his interest in horticulture. 
He imported the first asparagus plumosa plant in this. country. 

He purchased an Early Rose potato for one dollar, and 
reaped one hundred bushels the same season — all from the 



56 CELEBRATION OF 

one potato. The next season, by contract, he received 
$2,800 for his crop. 

John C. Scott successfully raised new kinds of strawberries. 
His son still continues his father's interest. 

Thomas Needham was very successful in grape culture. 

William H. Elliott succeeded Mr. Strong, and has achieved 
great success. 

POST-OFFICES. 

Rev. Noah Worcester, D.D., the "Apostle of Peace," was 
appointed the first postmaster, February 3, 1817. He served 
until 1837, when J. B. Mason was commissioned, followed 
in 1843 by William Warren, in 1857 by Timothy Munroe, 
in 1861 by John F. Day, who died in a rebel prison at Millen, 
Ga., in October, 1864. His widow, Sibyl S. Day, succeeded 
in office and continued after annexation. 

Allston's independent post-office was established February 
28, 1868, at the Allston station, John Parkhurst, postmaster. 
It became a sub-station, with A. B. Hitchcock in charge. 
It was abolished in 1870. 

North Brighton had an independent office from 1873 to 
1875. Thomas Hunt was postmaster. 

Free delivery of letters was established in 1875. 

LIBRARY. 

The Brighton Social Library was organized in February, 
1824. A catalogue was issued embracing nearly six hundred 
volumes, any citizen could become a member by signing the 
constitution and paying the membership fee. Elijah White, 
Jr., was librarian. 

The Brighton Lyceum was established in 1848, with John 
Ruggles, president. 

The Brighton Literary Association was organized in 1849 
by a few young men. Dr. Augustus Mason was the first 



BRIGHTON DAY. 57 

president, The exercises were principally debates. In 1856 
this association succeeded the Lyceum. Dr. Mason resigned, 
and J. P. C. Winship was elected president. The association 
concluded to extend its powers and endeavor to establish a 
public library. Fairs for a number of years were held to gain 
funds. The Brighton Library Association was incorporated 
January 15, 1858, for the circulation of books and for main- 
taining courses of public lectures. The old Social Library 
held by Dr. William Warren was transferred to the associa- 
tion. 

James Holton left 80.000 for a public library. The town 
elected twelve trustees. At the meeting of the latter John 
Ruggles was elected president and J. P. C. Winship secretary 
and librarian. The same rooms upon the lower floor of the 
Town Hall, on the west side, were retained for the library. 
The Brighton Library Association transferred its library to 
the Holton Library. 

In 1873 the town appointed Nathaniel Jackson, Jacob F. 
Taylor, J. P. C. Winship and Rev. F. A. Whitney a committee 
to erect the present Holton Library building. October 29, 
1874, the building was dedicated. 

March, 1821, an agent was chosen to superintend the fish- 
ing. Bass, shad, alewives, smelts and frostfish were the prin- 
cipal fish caught in the river. Alewives were used to enrich 
the land. 

August 14, 1824, General Lafayette arrived at New York. 
On his way from Uxbridge to Roxbury he stopped at the 
hotel where the police station now stands. The school chil- 
dren formed in lines, between which Lafayette and his son 
George Washington passed. He kissed a boy. He was 
evidently shy. 



58 CELEBRATION OF 

A boys' military company was formed in 1829, with 
Edmund Rice captain and George Pierce lieutenant. They 
were decorated with white plumes, tin swords and red belts. 
The band included five instruments. July 4, by invitation, 
they visited Old Cambridge. Benjamin Dudley carried a 
brass cannon in a baggage wagon, which was fired in 
Harvard square. 

BANKS. 

The Bank of Brighton was incorporated in March, 1832, 
with a capital of $150,000. — Gorham Parsons is represented 
as the first president, and Life Baldwin cashier. In 18G5 the 
name was changed to National Bank of Brighton. In 1883 
it honorably closed. 

Brighton Market Bank was chartered in 1854, with Life 
Baldwin as president. After the establishment of the Abat- 
tior the present bank building was erected and occupied. 

In 1861 the Brighton Five Cents Savings Bank was incor- 
porated, with John Ruggles president, Samuel Phillips vice- 
president, and Charles C. Hutchinson treasurer. 

FIRE DEPARTMENT. 

March 11, 1833, the East school-room in the old Town Hall 
was altered to accommodate the new engine and hearse. 
Voted to dispose of the old engine house. 

In 1841-42 G. Fuller built Engine House No. 2. 

The Fire Department was organized in 1864. G. H. Peck, 
chief. Butcher Boy, No. 1, George W. Warren, foreman. 
Charles River, No. 2, Simeon Sanderson, foreman. In 1866 
hose carriages were purchased, W. P. Hollis, engineer. 

In 1867 twelve persons were arrested for setting fires 
two were sentenced for life. 

In 1869, Christopher Tracy, chief engineer. In 1870, 



BRIGHTON DAY. 59 

J. L. B. Pratt, J. G. Davis, G. H. Peck, engineers. In 1871, 
Mr. Pratt, C. J. Crockett, M. A. Brown and Charles Currier, 
engineers. 

In 1872 a steam fire engine building was erected. The 
engine, land and buildings cost .$53,433.11. The steel bell 
weighs 1,535 pounds. The building was dedicated in 1873. 
The engine was named "F. A. Whitney." Captain C. H. 
Champney was appointed June 15, 1874. 

August, 1835, special anti-slavery meeting. 

April, 1838, paid off the town debt. 

April, 1839, School Committee report copied in full, town 
reports printed. 

July 4, 1844, Brighton Whigs, accompanied by the local 
band, attended the Massachusetts convention. 

November, 1848, Evergreen Cemetery land purchased. 

In 1850 butchering was opposed. 

In 1855, population, 2,805; foreign-born, 794. Dwelling- 
houses, 430. 

February 24, 1857, fiftieth anniversary of the town was 
duly recognized 

TRIAL JUSTICES. — NEWSPAPERS. 

About 1849 F. Lyman Winship was appointed trial jus- 
tice, and held court at his home. Later Joseph Bennett and 
S. W. Trowbridge became trial justices. In June, 1874, 
Henry Baldwin was appointed standing justice. 



The first native editor, Isaac Munro, was born in Brighton, 
April 26, 1783. His chief work was in publishing the Balti- 
more "Patriot." 

J. G. Wiggin published the Brighton "Reporter" Jan- 
uary 1, 1860. Edward E. Rice edited the "Gem," which 
appeared November 1, 1860. The Brighton "Gazette" 



60 CELEBRATION OF 

appeared in June, 1869, and was published by W. A. Fiske 
and H. L. Waterman — both capable young men. All the 
foregoing papers were short-lived. 

The Brighton "Messenger" issued its first number January 
28, 1871, as a weekly paper, and continued at least five years. 

George A. Warren commenced his editorial work after the 
annexation, which precludes my mentioning his advance- 
ment here. 

CORNWALLIS DAY. 

Cornwallis Day was observed in a number of towns in the 
eastern part of Massachusetts prior to 1854. The celebra- 
tion occurred in Brighton October 19, 1844. The scene of 
tin- battle was on the field extending from Washington street, 
opposite the present police station, south to Winship woods, 
where represented Indians were encamped. 

Charles Warren represented General Washington, and 
Luther Harrington personated Lord Cornwallis. Joel Adams 
acted as surgeon on the American side. He was asked by the 
inspecting officer if he had any casualties to report. Adams 
replied "Yes, the jawbone of one poor man had to be re- 
moved, and here it is," at the same time taking from his 
knapsack the jawbone of a sheep. 

I, as a medicine man, belonged to an Indian tribe, but the 
members were too young to take a very active part. 

After Washington's victory, victors and the vanqushed 
partook of bountiful repasts, and all "smiled." 

CIVIL WAR. 

April 15, 1861, the President called for 75,000 troops. The 
Sixth Regiment was the first to respond to the call. It 
reached Washington April 19. The interesting encounter at 
Baltimore is well known. May 3, 64,000 volunteers were 
called for. The same day a town meeting was held here for 




Ulf^i,. 



WILSON PAR 




Speakers' Stand. 



BRIGHTON DAY. 61 

the purpose of raising a volunteer company. Two thousand 
dollars were appropriated to uniform and equip the company, 
and it was voted that twenty dollars be given to each private 
when called into active service. 

While recruiting, Deacon Fuller played his fife and John 
Fowle beat his kettledrum on the Town House steps for the 
purpose of more fully impressing the young men to enlist. 

July 21 news arrived of the Bull Run battle. Churches 
were neglected, and the people, principally women, assembled 
at the Town Hall. It was the busiest day Brighton had exper- 
ienced. Every conceivable thing that wounded men would 
need was prepared, and all the day work was continued, for 
it was necessary to have everything boxed to be sent by the 
six o'clock train to Washington. 

November, 1862, Brighton had furnished 365 men, a sur- 
plus of five over the number required. Fifteen were com- 
missioned as officers. 

The money expended by the town exclusive of state aid 
was $78,050. 

General Lee surrendered April 9, 1865. Upon receipt of 
the news a deputation of boys from the high school called 
upon me, as a member of the School Committee, for a holiday 
on the 11th, and were advised to celebrate more extensively 
and organize deliberately. At a meeting I was elected 
supervisor and president of the day, W. P. Home, of the 
High-school, chief marshal, and fourteen assistant marshals 
were elected, with assistant marshals from the grammar 
schools. 

Subscription papers were started, and very soon more 
than enough money was gained. Arrangements were nearly 
completed when the assassination of President Lincoln was 
announced, and further action was deferred. Later many 
citizens desired to subscribe more money, and several gen- 



62 CELEBRATION OF 

tlemen offered to make up any deficiency in funds. The 
scholars had rehearsals in singing and marching in the Town 
Hall. 

The celebration occurred June 8, 1865. At ten o'clock the 
High, Bennett, Grammar and Primary schools assembled at 
Market square, and accompanied by Hall's brass band, 
headed by the chief marshal, marched to Union square, 
where the Harvard Grammar and its Primary schools joined 
and counter-marched, followed by decorated wagons filled 
with the smaller children. The girls were dressed in white 
with decorations of red, white and blue, and the boys with 
suitably inscribed banners and flags. 

In the village square a photograph was taken of the scholars. 
The procession then marched to the pavilion erected in 
Winship place, where a bountiful collation was served. 
Addresses and singing followed. 

The public reception of the returned soldiers occurred 
June 22. The Committee of Arrangements consisted of 
Jacob F. Taylor, Nathaniel Jackson, H. W. Jordan, A. I. 
Benyon, George A. Wilson, A. T. Brewer, G. H. Peck, 
B. F. Ricker and Granville A. Fuller. Mr. Winship was 
requested to take charge of the school children. The 
particular feature of the school department was a drum 
corps, efficiently drilled by W. A. P. Willard, master of the 
Bennett Grammar school. G. D. Bigelow, master of the 
Harvard Grammar School, had charge of the singing. 

Lieut. A. T. Brewer was chief marshal, Gilmore's Band 
of thirty-six pieces, cavalcade, school children, fire engines, 
officials and about one hundred returned soldiers composed 
the procession. 

At the grove on Oakland street services were held and a 
dinner served in a large tent. A section of the Boston Light 
Artillery fired salutes. 



BRIGHTON DAY. 63 

The noble, patriotic and self-sacrificing soldiers, whose 
action in the field is historic, cannot be sufficiently treated 
in this short address, but will appear in my history. 

Brighton memorialized the Legislature in January, 1872, 
for annexation to Boston. By a legislative act, approved 
by Brighton and Boston, annexation occurred January 5, 
1874. 

Brighton still exists, although wedded to Boston. Her 
historical interests remain intact, and we honor them. 

Naturally she was beautiful with her hills and dales, her 
picturesque ledges, extensive views, and river, ponds and 
brooks. Rapacious man has destroyed a number of the inhab- 
ited ponds and many old trees that adorned our streets. 

There is great need of instruction in beautiful embellish- 
ments that is necessary for home life in rural districts. 

The record stone of to-day declares that the civilized 
world has made greater advancement than in any other 
period of its existence. Our schools and churches have been 
the chief actors in our acquisitions, but the majority of 
men seem unimpressed by the sublimity of nature, and 
their great duty to the Almighty Power that created them. 

How strange it is that Shakespeare, over three centuries 
ago, created Portia with the ability to defend Antonio in a 
merciful manner without the fearful practices of certain 
lawyers of the present time, who seek notoriety regardless 
of means employed! How delicately she declared that 

The quality of mercy is not strained. 
It droppeth as the gentle rains from heaven 

Now this Twentieth Century has opened with man's force- 
ful nature uncurbed, yet as the years advance, woman's 
divine nature under the peaceful power of nations will gain 
justice through mercy, and men will become less antagonistic 
and recognize courtesy as a jewel above price. 



H 77 78 



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